Interactive device capable of improving image processing

ABSTRACT

An interactive device of improving image processing. The interactive device includes a processing module and a control circuit. The processing module includes a substrate, an image sensor for generating a plurality of pixel signals, and an estimation unit for determining a static parameter of at least one image object of the image based on the plurality of pixel signals. A transmission interface is used for serially outputting a control signal based on the static parameter determined by the estimation unit. The interactive device also includes a controller for controlling operation of the interactive device based on the control signal based on the static parameters corresponding to each image object. The image sensor, the estimation unit, and the transmission interface are all formed on the substrate.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an interactive device, and morespecifically, to an interactive device capable of improving imageprocessing.

2. Description of the Prior Art

With the popularization of multimedia applications, conventional imagesensors installed within digital devices, such as digital videocamcorders and digital still cameras (DSC), are used for taking movingimages. Generally speaking, image sensors with higher resolutions areable to produce high quality digital images, and thus can be used forimage distinguishing and fingerprint identification purposes. Imagesensors with lower resolution, however, are used in interactive toys forsimple motion distinguishing purposes. Take mechanical pets for example;the built-in camera installed inside the mechanical pets functions as an“eye” of the interactive toy to sense users' motion and then indicatedifferent instructions through a control circuit.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of aninteractive device 10 according to the prior art. The interactive device10 includes an image sensor 12, a micro-controller 14, and a paralleltransmission bus 16. The image sensor 12 contains a CMOS sensing array22 and an analog to digital converter (ADC) 24. Data sensed by the CMOSsensing array 22 is transmitted to the analog to digital converter 24.Because the CMOS sensing array 22 is capable of sensing a plurality ofpixel data for forming images, the CMOS sensing array 22 of the imagesensor 12 will generate various pixel data continuously while takingcontinuously moving images. In order to transmit a considerable amountof pixel data, the sensed pixel data between the image sensor 12 and thecontroller 14 are transmitted through a parallel transmission bus 16,and then the micro-controller 14 recomposes the object images ordetermines the condition of the object based on the above pixel data tocontrol the operation of the interactive device 10.

The huge amount of the sensed data is considerable, however, and thevelocity of parallel transmission with complex hardware structures isslower than that of serial transmission with the high development ofserial transmission. Furthermore, the micro-controller 14 still has todetermine and analyze the necessary data after receiving the sensed datatransmitted through the parallel transmission interface. Because theapplied sphere of each micro-controller 14 is not consistent, taking themicro-controller 14 installed within an optical mouse as an example, themicro-controller 14 does not need to obtain entire and detailed imagedata, but can instead obtain just the trail of relatively movingpositions of image objects. As a result, if users utilize theconventional image sensor 12 for generating pixel data, themicro-controller 14 has to receive and process all pixel data, resultingin a major burden while processing the image data.

Moreover, the traditional image sensor 12 for transforming receivedlight into electrical signals is implemented as a single chip.Therefore, it is necessary to improve such image sensor 12 made as asingle chip using the trend of system-on-chip circuit design.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to providean interactive device that calculates the desired image parameters inadvance using a chip which integrates image processing circuits and animage sensor onto the same substrate and then transmits the parametersto the control circuit to reduce the complexity of the design of thecontrol circuit and to speed up image processing.

According to the claimed invention, an interactive device capable ofimproving image processing comprises a processing module and acontroller. The processing module comprises a substrate, an image sensorformed on the substrate for generating a plurality of pixel signalscorresponding to an image, an estimation unit formed on the substratefor determining a static parameter of at least one image object of theimage based on the plurality of pixel signals, and a transmissioninterface formed on the substrate for serially outputting a controlsignal based on the static parameter of at least one image object. Thecontroller is used for controlling operation of the interactive devicebased on the control signal.

According to the claimed invention, an interactive device capable ofimproving image processing comprises a processing module and acontroller. The processing module comprises a substrate, an image sensorformed on the substrate for generating a plurality of pixel signals, acalculation unit formed on the substrate for calculating at least onemotion vector based on the plurality of pixel signals, and atransmission interface formed on the substrate for serially outputtingthe motion vector. The controller is used for controlling operation ofthe interactive device based on the motion vector output by thetransmission interface.

According to the claimed invention, the static image parameters indicatemeasurable parameters while the image objects are being staticallydisplayed. For instance, the static parameter comprises one or moreparameters from a group consisting of a coordinate of an image object,an area of an image object, a direction indicating an image object, acolor parameter of an image object, object points of an image object, alength to width ratio of an image object, and a boundary parameter of animage object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the interactive device accordingto the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the interactive device accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows multiple image pictures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of theinteractive device 30 according to the present invention. Theinteractive device 30 can be a mouse or an interactive toy. Theinteractive device 30 contains a processing module 44 that is a chip anda control circuit 46. The processing module 44 includes an image sensor42, which is a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a CMOS optical sensor, forgenerating a plurality of digital pixel signals, and then transmittingthe plurality of pixel signals to the processing module 44. Theprocessing module 44 comprises a substrate 41, an estimation unit 45, acalculation unit 46, and transmission interfaces 48, 52. The imagesensor 42, the estimation unit 45, the calculation unit 46, and thetransmission interfaces 48, 52 are all formed on the substrate 41.

Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows multiple image pictures. Eachpicture comprises a plurality of pixel signals. Take the picture of800*600 pixels for example. The image sensor 42 is used to generate aplurality of pixel signals. After the plurality of generated pixelsignals are transmitted to the estimation unit 45, the estimation unit45 will determine various parameters of each image based on a pluralityof pixel signals. Take the target picture 120 for example, the displaycondition of the target object 100 in the target picture 120 isdetermined by several image parameters, such as coordinates of thetarget object 100, an area of the target object 100, color of the targetobject 100, orientation of the target object 100, the boundaries of thetarget object 100, ends of the target object 100, and the length towidth ratio of the target object 100 in the target picture 120.

The target object 100 is taken as a set of the pixel signals with anidentical color parameter, and the estimation unit 45 is capable ofdetermining parameters of the target object 100 in the target picture120, (e.g. an area, orientation, boundary, and gray-scale value), basedon the number of identical pixel signals and their correspondingcoordinates. The estimation unit 45 also determines parameters such asobject ends and the object's length to width ratio. For example,providing that the target object 100 is a rectangle, the estimation unit45 is able to determine the number of the object ends is 4 and therectangle object's length to width ratio. That is to say, the staticimage pixel parameters are the measurable parameters of the targetobject 100 while the target object 100 is being statically displayed.

Furthermore, video film is actually a continuous series of pictures,which are perceived as a moving picture due to the persistence of visionof human eyes. Since the time interval between pictures is very short,the difference between neighboring pictures is generally little andmostly appears in change of location of visual objects. While displayinga video film, in theory, a plurality of pixel signals must bere-composed as a picture again and again to show a continuous videoimage. In general, there are some spatial similarities in chromatic,geometrical, or other characteristic values within a picture/image. Inorder to eliminate these spatial redundancies, it is required toidentify significant elements of the picture and to remove the redundantelements that are less significant. Please keep referring to FIG. 3. Thetarget picture 120 is separated into a plurality of objects, and thesize of each object is free. Every object in the target picture 120 isencoded based on a difference to one object in the previous picture 110in the time axis or a difference to one object in the following picture130. In contrast to the target object 100, all contrasted objects withsimilar size in a searching area 115 of the previous picture 110 or theobjects with similar size in a searching area 135 of the previouspicture 130 will be contrasted one by one. In FIG. 3, compared with allcontrast objects in the previous picture 110 and in the followingpicture 130, the object having the smallest difference with respect tothe target object 100 serves as a reference object 150. The motiondifference between the reference object 150 and the target object 100indicates the motion vector. The calculation unit 46 is able todetermine the motion vector among each object in above-mentioned way.

After obtaining related parameters for each picture, the estimation unit45 and the calculation unit 46 transmit the parameters to thetransmission interfaces 48, 52. The transmission interfaces 48, 52 canbe a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface.Compared with synchronous parallel transmission, asynchronous serialtransmission has the advantages of small volume, low price, and theability to transmit over a long distance. For instance, a universalasynchronous transceiver is an asynchronous serial/parallel datatransmitter for transmitting data between serial devices that controland connect to the interactive device 30 (or a processor). Morespecifically, the function of the interactive device 30 provided by UARTis similar to that of data exchange provided by RS-232 data terminalequipment (DTE), so that the interactive device 30 is capable ofexchanging data with serial devices through a universal serial bus(USB).

In addition to the UART mentioned previously (RS-232 is one kind ofUART), the transmission interfaces 48, 52 can be I²C (inter-IC) or USBinterfaces. The I²C protocol regulates that data transmission isperformed through two two-way (transmit and receive) transmission lines(serial data line SDA and serial clock line). Because the principle oftransforming serial data and parallel data with I²C and USB is similarto that with UART and is well known to those skilled in the art, therewill be no further description hereinafter.

In other words, the first transmission interface 48 and the secondtransmission interface 52 can each use at least one kind of interfacefrom the serial transmission groups including the UART, I²C (inter-IC),and USB interfaces.

Ultimately, after receiving the motion vectors or the static parameters(e.g. coordinates of an object, an area of an object, color of a object,orientation of an object, boundary of an object, object ends, and lengthto width ratio of an object) transmitted from the transmissioninterfaces 48, 52, the control circuit 54 is able to utilize codes ofeach object in the previous picture 110 in cooperation with motionvectors and static parameters of each object to recover the targetpicture 120. The control circuit 54 may take further action based on theparameters for controlling the operation of the interactive device 30.

In another embodiment, the first transmission interface 48 fortransmitting the data generated by the estimation unit 45 and the secondtransmission interface 52 for transmitting the motion vectors calculatedby the calculation unit 46 can be combined into a single interface.

As far as an optical mouse (acting as an interface device) is concerned,because an optical mouse is simply a cursor control device, the movingtrace of a cursor (regarded as an object) is more important. Under thiscircumstance, it is not necessary to take much notice on the parametersof image objects determined by the estimation unit 45, such as an areaof an object and orientation of an object because the motion vectorsdetermined by the calculation unit 46. In consequence, in the thirdembodiment, the processing module 44 comprises the image sensor 42, thecalculation unit 46, and the second transmission interface 52, and allare formed on the substrate 41. Thus, the third embodiment does not makeuse of the calculation unit 46 and the second transmission interface 52.

In the fourth embodiment, the image sensor 42, the estimation unit 45,and the first transmission interface 48 are formed on the same substrate41, and the calculation unit 46 and the second transmission interface 52are not used.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention processing module 44integrates the image sensor 42, the estimation unit 45, the calculationunit 46, and the transmission interfaces 48, 52 on the same substrate 41as a single chip. The estimation unit 45 is able to determine thecoordinates of a plurality of pixel signals, and calculates imageparameters, such as an area of each object, boundary of each object,orientation of each object, and color of each object, based on the pixelcoordinates. The calculation unit 46 can calculate motion vectors basedon the plurality of pixel signals transmitted from the image sensor 42in advance. At the same time, the transmission interfaces 48, 52transmit the calculated image parameters by a UART interface or anyother serial transmission interfaces. In this way, the control circuit54 at the back end does not need to calculate complicated parameters anymore, which reduces the circuit design complexity and shortens thedevelopment period of interactive devices.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device may be made while retainingthe teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure shouldbe construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appendedclaims.

1. An interactive device capable of improving image processingcomprising: a processing module comprising: a substrate; an imagesensor, formed on the substrate, for generating a plurality of pixelsignals corresponding to an image; an estimation unit, formed on thesubstrate, for determining a static parameter of at least one imageobject within the image based on the plurality of pixel signals; and atransmission interface, formed on the substrate, for serially outputtinga control signal based on the static parameter of at least one imageobject; and a controller for controlling operation of the interactivedevice based on the control signal.
 2. The interactive device of claim 1wherein the static parameter comprises one or more parameters from agroup consisting of a coordinate of an image object, an area of an imageobject, a direction indicating an image object, a color parameter of animage object, object points of an image object, a length to width ratioof an image object, and a boundary parameter of an image object.
 3. Theinteractive device of claim 1 wherein the transmission interface is anI²C interface.
 4. The interactive device of claim 1 wherein thetransmission interface is a universal serial bus (USB) interface.
 5. Theinteractive device of claim 1 wherein the transmission interface is auniversal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART).
 6. The interactivedevice of claim 1 wherein the image sensor is a CMOS sensor.
 7. Theinteractive device of claim 1 wherein the image sensor is acharge-coupled device (CCD).
 8. An interactive device capable ofimproving image processing comprising: a processing module comprising: asubstrate; an image sensor, formed on the substrate, for generating aplurality of pixel signals; a calculation unit, formed on the substrate,for calculating at least one motion vector based on the plurality ofpixel signals; and a transmission interface, formed on the substrate,for serially outputting a control signal based on the motion vector; anda controller for controlling operation of the interactive device basedon the control signal.
 9. The interactive device of the claim 8 whereinthe transmission interface is a universal asynchronousreceiver/transmitter (UART).
 10. The interactive device of the claim 8wherein the transmission interface is I²C interface.
 11. The interactivedevice of the claim 8 wherein the image sensor is a CMOS sensor.
 12. Theinteractive device of the claim 8 wherein the image sensor is acharge-coupled device (CCD).